From corporate high flyer to business owner

“We have a Vision Board at home,” Leona Fell (above) tells me as we chat about her move from corporate life to Health and Wellness business owner.

The one-time financial executive - now an Independent Consultant, Executive Regional Vice President with Arbonne International - says the Vision Board helps her children understand why mummy might be out during the week for work.

“The girls had got used to me being at home,” says Leona, who left a corporate life she loved in the UK to begin her own business with the express purpose of getting time back with her children.

“The Vision Board helps the girls understand that as the business grows, it will mean a bit more work for me but the benefit for all of us is that our dreams come closer to being realised,” she explains.

Visualisation, a process used by elite athletes to improve performance, is something in which Leona and the Fell family firmly believes. It has helped Leona get what she wants out of life by focussing her on what matters.

“Getting off the hamster wheel can be hard, but if you tell yourself you can’t do something, you won’t; and guess what? If you think you’re not good enough, you won’t be,” says Leona, who acknowledges the importance self-development and visualisation play in her strategy.

She is quick to point out certain books which have contributed to her success. Off the top of her head, there are three: Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod; On Fire, John O’Leary; The Secret, Rhonda Byrne.

“Self-development books helped me focus on making positive decisions and the right decisions for me and my family. They inspired me to think about what is important for me in life and to make decisions that work for that,” says Leona.

“There’s never just one way [to live a life]. I believe you can have it all, but it will mean making choices, making decisions, and in most cases stepping out of your comfort zone, to achieve what’s important to you,” she finishes.

For Leona no matter how much she loved her job and corporate life in banking she couldn’t eradicate her feelings of guilt at “not being a very present mother”.

“In my mind it went, ‘I am a banker. I know nothing about skincare. This will not be for me.’,” she says.

However, the business not only offered Leona the opportunity to keep busy and be there for her children, but she was passionate about the same things that drive Arbonne’s products – pure, safe and beneficial.

“When we moved to Australia from the UK, I was able to start Arbonne here and continue to grow the UK business,” says Leona, who was also CEO St George Foundation from 2013 until 2015.

Arbonne has since launched in New Zealand and more recently (8th November 2016) in Taiwan.

“Arbonne is about something everyone does every day. We all shower; all clean our teeth; our skin, hair. When you think about what’s going into your and your children’s body, you want it to be safe, pure and to work,” finishes Leona.

For time poor people, the online nature of the business, three-day delivery turnaround and 24/7 open hours also make sense. See here for more.